Culture

Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best in full sun. Prefers moist, fertile soils. Avoid wet, poorly-drained soils. Shelter from wind.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Chamaecyparis obtusa is native to Japan. It is commonly called hinoki cypress or hinoki falsecypress. It is an evergreen conifer that grows 50-75’ tall (to 120' tall in its native habitat) with a pyramidal shape. It features spreading branches with flattened horizontal branchlets that droop at the ends. Dark green scale-like leaves in two sizes have white markings beneath. Crushed foliage is aromatic. Reddish brown bark will peel on mature trees. Small, 8-scaled, greenish-brown (female) to orange brown (male) cones. Although species trees are uncommonly planted in the home landscape, a large number of compact and dwarf cultivars have become very popular for use as small accents/specimens, hedges, screens and foundation/rock garden plants.

Genus name comes from Greek chamai meaning dwarf or to the ground and kyparissos meaning cypress tree.

Specific epithet means rounded in reference to its leaves being blunt/rounded at the tips.

In Japan, hinoki means fire tree.

'Nana Gracilis' is a compact, slow-growing, multi-stemmed, evergreen shrub that typically grows to 3' tall over the first 10 years. It will eventually mature over time in pyramidal to conical form to 6-9' tall. It features shell-shaped sprays of dense rich dark green foliage. Nana means dwarf and gracilis means slender or graceful.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems. Some susceptibility to juniper blight, root rot and certain insect pests such as bagworms.